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Three ‘Alberniology’ contributors read at Electric Mermaid in Port Alberni

Next live reading event takes place at Char’s Landing on May 25
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Port Alberni author Laura Sturgeon debuted two new books—Alone in the Castle for young adults, and Where In the World Will I Find the Perfect Pet? for children—in November 2021. (PHOTO COURTESY LAURA STURGEON)

The next live reading event at Char’s Landing in Port Alberni will entertain poetry and prose fans alike.

The Wednesday, May 25 edition of Electric Mermaid: Live Reads will feature favourites Kathleen Vance and David Kipling in-house on Char’s stage, along with Port Alberni’s own Laura Sturgeon.

Vance has a PhD in German (UBC) and taught workplace communication at BCIT for 30 years. Based on workplace interviews and tours of mills, mines and labs, she wrote countless stories that placed students in real-life dilemmas that they would have to write themselves out of. She co-authored with Dale Fitzpatrick the textbook Writing for Success (Pearson ERPI, 1998). In addition to writing a novel for middle-grade readers, she has contributed to the anthology Don’t Tell: Family Secrets (Demeter Press, Jan 2023).

Vance is a contributor to Alberniology (RCN Media Publishing, 2021). Vance also trained teachers in Beijing and Hunan,published journal articles and was a contributing author for Hard Jobbin’ (Ride the Wind, 2001, Ceridwen Collins-West, ed).

Kipling is a lifelong autosport fan and drag race announcer who has twice undergone race driving experiences. He runs an archive website on British stock-car racing history (www.oldstox.com) and has sporadically written autosport journalism. He also taught technical communication at BCIT for thirty years. He says he feeds his “happy addiction” to reading and writing by taking part in events like Electric Mermaid. Kipling has a short story published in Alberniology (RCN Media Publishing, 2021).

Sturgeon began her writing journey at the age of 12, which has led her to the publication of a short story compilation (In Bloom), a junior fiction novel titled The Big Ugly Sweater, a young adult novel titled Alone in the Castle and a picture book titled Where in the World Will I Find the Perfect Pet. Sturgeon has contributed a short story to Alberniology and has written several editions of Our Voice, a publication for the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). Sturgeon is a regular contributor with Electric Mermaid.

Electric Mermaid will take place on Wednesday, May 25 at 6 p.m. at Char’s Landing. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. See www.charslanding.com/events or call Char 250-730-1636 for the Zoom link to the event or to pre-register for the readers’ list.